Discourse is an online platform designed to build and manage online communities. It excels at fostering discussions and knowledge sharing through features like forums, chat rooms, and knowledge bases. While suitable for various use cases, it's not specifically built for formal Q&A structures like Stack Overflow. Discourse prioritizes user-friendliness, scalability, and security, making it a strong option for companies looking to cultivate an active online community around their brand or within their organization.
Who is Discourse best for
Discourse is an ideal platform for businesses seeking to build thriving online communities. Users praise its user-friendly interface and robust features for discussions and knowledge sharing. However, some find the setup challenging and dislike the limited plugin integrations. Discourse excels at fostering engaging discussions and building a strong sense of community.
Best for small to medium-sized businesses.
Suitable for various industries seeking community engagement.
Discourse features
Supported
Discourse supports team discussions, but uses a flat, non-nested threading model.
Supported
Discourse supports Single Sign-On (SSO) via various integrations.
Supported
Discourse allows members to create and vote in polls.
Supported
Discourse supports public feedback through discussions, polls, and analytics.
Supported
Discourse supports forums, discussions, and community building with features like real-time updates and social integration.
Discourse reviews
We've summarised 66
Discourse reviews (Discourse TrustPilot reviews and Discourse G2 reviews) and
summarised the main points below.
Pros of Discourse
Easy to use and user-friendly interface.
Excellent for community discussions and knowledge sharing.
Open-source and customizable.
Mailing list mode for email integration.
Robust moderation and user privilege features.
Cons of Discourse
Private messages are not private to administrators.
Difficult setup and customization.
Basic user experience.
Limited plugin integrations out-of-the-box.
Can be resource intensive and slow with large user bases.
Discourse pricing
The commentary is based on 4 reviews from Discourse G2 reviews.
Discourse offers a 14-day free trial for its paid plans. It also offers open-source, self-hostable forum software for free.
Discourse is an open-source platform for building online communities. It provides features like forums, chat, and knowledge bases, enabling discussions and knowledge sharing. It's user-friendly and scalable but can be resource-intensive and its private messaging lacks admin privacy.
What is Discourse and what does Discourse do?
Discourse is an open-source platform for building online communities. It provides features like forums, chat, and knowledge bases, enabling discussions and knowledge sharing. It's user-friendly and scalable but can be resource-intensive and its private messaging lacks admin privacy.
How does Discourse integrate with other tools?
Discourse integrates with popular tools through its API and plugins, including Slack, WordPress, and Single Sign-On (SSO) providers. It also supports webhooks for custom integrations. However, some users find the number of out-of-the-box integrations limited.
How does Discourse integrate with other tools?
Discourse integrates with popular tools through its API and plugins, including Slack, WordPress, and Single Sign-On (SSO) providers. It also supports webhooks for custom integrations. However, some users find the number of out-of-the-box integrations limited.
What the main competitors of Discourse?
Discourse competes with platforms like Confluence, Forumbee, and Happeo. These alternatives offer similar features for community building, knowledge sharing, and communication. Other competitors include Document360, ClickUp, and Teachfloor, each with varying focuses like knowledge bases or online course delivery.
What the main competitors of Discourse?
Discourse competes with platforms like Confluence, Forumbee, and Happeo. These alternatives offer similar features for community building, knowledge sharing, and communication. Other competitors include Document360, ClickUp, and Teachfloor, each with varying focuses like knowledge bases or online course delivery.
Is Discourse legit?
Discourse is a legitimate and safe platform for online communities. It's known for its ease of use and robust features for discussions and knowledge sharing. However, some users find the setup and customization challenging and note limitations with plugin integrations.
Is Discourse legit?
Discourse is a legitimate and safe platform for online communities. It's known for its ease of use and robust features for discussions and knowledge sharing. However, some users find the setup and customization challenging and note limitations with plugin integrations.
How much does Discourse cost?
Discourse pricing information is not publicly available. Contact their sales team to determine if Discourse is worth the investment for your specific needs.
How much does Discourse cost?
Discourse pricing information is not publicly available. Contact their sales team to determine if Discourse is worth the investment for your specific needs.
Is Discourse customer service good?
Discourse's customer service receives positive feedback, with users highlighting the responsiveness and helpfulness of the support team. Users appreciate that support attempts to resolve simple issues directly, rather than immediately escalating to more costly service tickets.
Is Discourse customer service good?
Discourse's customer service receives positive feedback, with users highlighting the responsiveness and helpfulness of the support team. Users appreciate that support attempts to resolve simple issues directly, rather than immediately escalating to more costly service tickets.
Reviewed by
MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio
Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT
management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs
of any business and find solutions to its problems.
TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio
Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech
department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX,
HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.
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